American Ultra was a blood and gore, shoot ‘em up, blow ‘em up, beat ‘em up, burn ‘em up, gas ‘em up, non-stop, fast-paced, farcical action film that put a smile on my face.
The plot: Small-town stoner Mike Howell (Jesse Eisenberg) spends most of his time getting high, working in the local Cash & Carry, and writing a graphic novel about a superhero monkey. What Mike doesn’t know is that he was trained by the CIA to be a lethal killing machine. When the agency targets him for termination, his former handler activates his latent skills, turning the mild-mannered slacker into a deadly weapon. Now, the utterly surprised Mike must use his newfound abilities to save himself and his girlfriend from getting wasted.
Jesse Eisenberg as a stoner turned killing machine and Kristen Stewart as his girlfriend who unbeknownst to him was assigned to handle him, were totally believable and charmingly likable. Topher Grace as the self-appointed head of this CIA experiment, was totally detestable. In other words, good acting all around and when the film ended, I wanted to see more. This film may not be appreciated by most adults, but the time flew by without me once looking at my watch.
Cast: Jesse Eisenberg (Mike Howell), Kristen Stewart (Phoebe Larson), Topher Grace (Adrian Yates), Connie Britton (Victoria Lasseter), John Leguizamo (Rose), Bill Pullman (Raymond Krueger), Tony Hale (Agent Petey Douglas), Walton Goggins (Laughter)